I know this is a muskie topic but, thinking about starting an aquarium with some panfish. I've had a normal aquarium for as long as I can remember. Just wondering if anyone has experience with the set up, water conditions, up keep, etc.. Are there any differences between the household freshwater fish and a panfish? Thanks,
Scott

Keep in mind that you are raising cold water fish not Tropical Fish. They will need more water per fish and cooler water. This is to keep them happy. You can cram more in but they won't be happy. I know lots of people who would keep a small bass to watch it feed on the poor minnows(pretty cool).

I had raised a bluegill in my aquarium from 4inches all the way to 10 1\2 " put any other gills in there and hed pound the snot out of them, he also come up and eat worms and grubs from your fingers, really cool pet, moved to the city, put city water in there, he died in 10 minutes. lesson learned.

I had 3 bluegills for over a year in a 30 gallon tank until one of them decided to keep the others in one corner and he ate everything. The two died and I had just the one for a while and he eventually gorged himself to death on about a dozen minnows. I also had a perch with them for a few months but he couldn't compete for food. Right now I have two pumpkin seeds that my daugter caught a couple of weeks ago. One of them is a little more aggressive but so far I've been able to get food to both of them. Both will eat out of your hand. This time of year I feed them worms from the garden. I pick up crappie minnows from the bait store in the winter. I keep the aquarium in the basement so the temperature is consistent and cooler than it would be on the main floor.

hey ive had muskys ,gar ,bass,bluegill,stergine,pike,waleye
treat panfish the same as any other fish waleye u have to get a chiller and order the fish if u want muskys u should start with panfish i only got bit by 2 muskys

I have a 70 gallon with crappies and perch. Anything that eats minnows are easy, but the minnows bring in disease sometimes, make sure the . We watch the PH and clean the tank every week. Have had muskies, pike, crappies, perch, and gills, smallmouth bass don't work. They are REALLY mean.

I had raised a bluegill in my aquarium from 4inches all the way to 10 1\2 " put any other gills in there and hed pound the snot out of them, he also come up and eat worms and grubs from your fingers, really cool pet, moved to the city, put city water in there, he died in 10 minutes. lesson learned.

I have a 70 gallon with crappies and perch. Anything that eats minnows are easy, but the minnows bring in disease sometimes, make sure the . We watch the PH and clean the tank every week. Have had muskies, pike, crappies, perch, and gills, smallmouth bass don't work. They are REALLY mean.

As stated above regular water changes (try to change no more than 20% of total volume at one time + always remember to use dechlor) and watch your four main levels- ph, ammonia, nitrite and nitrate. Chicagp tap is some of the best water around. very consistent ph, low nitrate levels. (only downfall is high phosphate levels. Algea loves phosphates! Not a major issue in most tanks and if it becomes an issue you can add a product called Phos-Guard. Feel free to p.m. me, I design, build, and maintain custom aquariums for a living (mostly saltwater and reef tanks, but I've had lots of fun with indigenous tanks as well)

I own a pet store for 5 years and we had a 220 and 120 display tank with sturgon, tiger musky, big cats, gar, walleye and bass. if you have any questions just PM me with them. I will tell you it all dependes on your filtration. see they are much more dirty then tropicals.
Later, Pat

iv got 14 in my tank now in miami fl. its a new aquaponic system.. 3 three inch and 11 fingerlings.. they have survived the first 24 hours and look healthy. especially the fingerlings... the bigger ones are still a little stressed and will not eat pellets.. ph @ 7.8 am0-1.0 trite-1.0 nitrate- 10 about to plant sprouts in the upcoming weeks if everything continues to look good... any suggestions???i was trying to catch tellapia but all i could get were the blues... d

Little gills do well in a 55 in numbers, but once they reach adult size, it's better to reduce the numbers. I found the perfect number for 10" gills in that tank was 2. I also had a few golden shiners in there for effect; they never stop swimming.

Little gills do well in a 55 in numbers, but once they reach adult size, it's better to reduce the numbers. I found the perfect number for 10" gills in that tank was 2. I also had a few golden shiners in there for effect; they never stop swimming.

When you say "reduce the numbers"... Do you mean with eggs, lightly breaded, or do you actually move them to a different tank?

I have to admit, I'd probably have to put them in the livewell and go turn them lose somewhere.

I have had at least one big bluegill in a tank for the last twenty years! They are so entertaining! Their eyesight is incredible too. I have grown them up to 12.25" and 2lbs 4 oz! A very personal fish that loves the company of other people. However, they are without a doubt, bullies in a tank. I tend to keep them alone.

I have a 55 gallon I believe, I feed him night crawlers exclusively... no minnows. Too many diseases. They can be trained to eat out of your hand and to be pet like a dog.

Perch and crappies are quite boring. And bass will eat you out of house and home. Bluegill is probably the best choice. When they are alone in the tank, they seem to get quite attached to their owners.

the bigger ones will probably end up in the pan ... but ill most likely release the rest back into the everglades once i find some Telapia.. i figure they'll do for now while i get my cycle going... trying to get my first crop planted in a week or two... also if anyone knows where i can buy some blue Telapia fingerlings in the south florida area it would be a great help..

I had some blugills when I was in college. Like what was said above, they will kill each other. Green sunfish are by far the most agressive and very mean. I would not put more than one adult in a 30 gallon aquarium and I am not so sure you could put another fish in there with it. I have had them go after bass.

iv got 14 in my tank now in miami fl. its a new aquaponic system.. 3 three inch and 11 fingerlings.. they have survived the first 24 hours and look healthy. especially the fingerlings... the bigger ones are still a little stressed and will not eat pellets.. ph @ 7.8 am0-1.0 trite-1.0 nitrate- 10 about to plant sprouts in the upcoming weeks if everything continues to look good... any suggestions???i was trying to catch tellapia but all i could get were the blues... d

How long has the tank been set up? what kind of filtration? If this is a new set up that hasn't cycled you have way to many fish. From your test results I'd say it's really new and you already have an ammonia and nitrite spike well on it's way. Cycle the tank with 1 or 2 fish. When the cycle is complete you should read no ammonia or nitrites, only nitrates. This is the time to do your first water change (no water changes before this unless something drastic has happened) Not sure what your using to catch the tilapia, but they are mainly vegetarian. They are not really a good choice for an aquarium. They will eat any live plants you are trying to grow, constantly dig in the substrate and can get very territorial (You'll have enough of that going on with the gills) pm me if you want and I can help out

i set up the tank 3 weeks ago cycled the biofilter and put a couple cat fish in as well as two crawfish... on feb 02 i gave the cat fish away to a friend and added the blue gill along with a few gallons of water from the glades.. i used some bread balls with a small hook for the larger ones and caught the fingerlings by chumming the water with bread and casting a small net.. like i said before, i was attempting to catch some blue Telapia fingerlings which are also prevalent in our canals and waterways and are commonly used in aquaponic systems ie:( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=baLp1neHomE). After 3 hours of nothing but bluegill i decided to go with them. there shouldn't be a problem with them eating my plants bc they are in hydroponic grow beds located above the tank.. the fish have been in the tank for 3 days now look healthy,fingerlings are eating openly, water looks good and besides the occasional territorial disputes over the aerator they have not been attacking one another... specs of the system located on my south east facing balcony/porch .. 55 gallon tank, 43 gallon reservoir, i have an overflow syphon going from tank to res, in tank i have a Aquean 55 filter and a 60 hz fusion 300 air with a large mineral stone.. in the reservoir, a pump constantly sends water through pvc pipeing to two expanded clay hydroponic grow-beds on a constant flood and drain with a simple loop syphon which drains back into fish tank ruffly every 15-20 minutes.. as of 12:00 am 02/05/10 system ph:7.8 ,ammo: DROPPED to .50, trite: 1.0, trate: 5.0-10...on the the 3rd i had to do about a 15% emergency water change. overnight one of the fingerlings had swam through the syphon and got stuck stopping the syphon and draining about 70% of the reservoir.. after fashoning a filter for the syphon i added the lost water through some fancy filter...
any suggestions ?? ever heard of anyone raising copper bluegill in numbers for consumption? what ph ashould i be shooting for? any ideas for getting the three lager bg's to eat? anything will help... thanx

If you are showing any ammonia and or nitrite reading your system is not cycled. "Seeding" the system with natural water will help speed the process, but it's a double edged sword. You can easily introduce disease and parasites. Without know what plants you are cultivating a ph suggestion can't be made. Generally the plants will want a lower ph than the fish. Most fish can tolerate ph lower than their ideal levels as long as it is dropped SLOWLY (over days/weeks is best). Aquaponic systems are usually set up with the plant growth as the main goal and the animals as a bonus. Make sure to have ball valves, check valves and any other safety measures installed at as many points as possible. These kind of systems are prone to issues that can lead to a real mess. Be patient is the best advise I can give. Do not rush to add fish and monitor your water parameters constantly (with a reliable test kit - liquids - No test strips) pm me if you want, I don't want to get to far off the Muskie theme around these here parts.

I've kept natives for 30 years, and I have to say...that's some great advise by Fish and Whistile there!

Bluegills are a blast...bright critters, but pretty aggressive. Surprisingly, if you keep a good school of them, no one gets singled out too bad and the tank has a lot of good swimming action without any major injuries. A nice little school of gills, a few goldens and some chubs make for an exciting tank. Not quite as cool as growing muskies up from 1"ers, but still cool! have fun...

You don't have to get too complicated. Keep it simple and it can be quite easy. I have a 55 gallon tank with a 4" tiger musky, a 4" northern, a 5" walleye, a red eared sunfish about the size of a silver dollar, and a crappie of about the same size. I have all these fish for two years. Don't let the water get above 72 degrees for vary long, use a simple out of tank filter that spills back into the tank. I go way longer than your supposed to, when changing the filter. Key is not to feed them much. I feed them very small tropical fish pellets. Just enough so that each fish gets 5 or 6 little pellets, every other day. They take forever to grow, and they don't poop much. I have a plecostemos (sp) to control algae, so I never have to clean the tank. I do use a heater in the winter, as the basement will get too cool for the plecostemos, they can't take water much below 68 degrees. The real trick is getting them onto pellets. The crappie was the hardest, musky was kind of tough too, but the others took no time at all. Use a small 10 gallon tank with one fish at a time, to get them on pellets, once they aggressively go after pellets, you can put them with the rest of the fish. I hardly ever touch the tank and they all seem healthy and happy. Don't think I will add anymore though, they need their space.

I forgot to add, the key is to have similar sized fish, as stated earlier in this thread, with these game fish, if they can fit it in their mouth, they will eat it, especially bass. And if a bass can't eat it, they will bully them into the corner and starve them. I've had bass and many other game fish in tanks in the past, and won't ever bother with a bass again, they are just eating machines with bad attitudes.

my mother grew a blue gill from about four inches up to 11 3/4 inches when it died and weighed over two and a half pounds beating out state record easily and this was 12 years ago it bottomed out a two and a half pound scale so it was well over and it ate a dozen crappie minnows like it was nothing awesome fish great predator i wanna do it again but with a crappie. Sorry for the run on sentence and we got the fish mounted after it died from jumping out of a 50 gallon tank

The only thing I didn't see covered much was having some weeds, wood, rock, or other forms of cover in your tank. I used to have three tanks set up and every gamefish species I ever had wanted cover. Allot less stress for them it seemed. Sunfish were the most personable, black crappies I thought were the best looking, the bass were always growing to big for the tank. They ate like hogs. Walleyes were boring. Never did an esox just becuase I normally had them for so long it wouldn't take long for them to outgrow the tank.

I believe bluegills are related to the popular cichlids sold in pet stores. I've heard they will sometimes crossbreed. Both of them are bullies when they get too big without enough cover for the weaker to hide in. When they are smaller the more you keep in a well cycled tank the better. In a larger school the abuse gets spread out. If you only have three then they will gang up on smaller or weaker. I would start with at least five and thin them down as they get bigger.